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This project was
created on 06/20/2016
and last updated 10 months ago.

Description

Let's explore our planet through the sensors and camera eyes of a remote controlled robot. A prototype of the robot exists, but major improvements are needed to prepare the successor for the adventurous journey.

I am looking for citizen scientists that are willing to prepare a landing area for one earth day. Open your country to a world wide community. Show the projects you are working on in your school, university or makerspace or...
Provide internet access (WLAN hotspot) and feed the robot with electricity. The robot will be sent to you free of charge.

Help to improve the robot by adding sensors, give the rover a name or a better look.

Shipping costs for the large robot I had in mind, are simply too expensive for me to send it to international locations. That's why I decided to shrink the world tour robot and implement no more electronic components than needed to drive around:

A Raspberry Pi Zero WLAN, drive motors, a voltage regulator and a camera. Running two HackadyPrice entries at once was simply too much work in 2016, which is why this robot project did not get the attention it should have. In 2017, my one and only price entry will be the small robot version:

I missed my campaign goal on Indiegogo, but finally got 333,-€ from all backers (many thanks). 5% of the money was subtracted from Indiegogo (just to feed their servers, there was no human contact), another 5% were needed to transfer the money virtually to my banking account, thus 316,35€ went to my project.

My conclusion?

1.) Indiegogo gave the campaign no extra boost, but I simply had to try it ;-)

2.) With the small budget, the world tour robot must become smaller than the prototype. The best shipping is done in a 60x30x15cm box with no more than 2kg. That's the challenge all space missions have to deal with: Make is small and lightweight.

3.) The mission itself will be made more simple. The main idea is to have one camera on the robot - first and foremost humans want visual contact with remote areas on planet earth.

The first investments:

I spent 30,-€ for 10 stepper motors (2 packs 5 pieces each) type 28BYJ-48 with ULN2003 driver boards that will be used as brushless drive motors and for pointing the camera up/down, eventually for more actuators.

I have a Raspberry Pi and an Arduino in stock - looks like this will be another project I have to fund (at least parts of it).

I spent 54,-€ for a smartphone that will be used to connect to Internet
(either as WLAN hotspot or via USB tethering). It's my first smartphone
ever. The first benefit in having such a pocket computer is an improved
responsive web design. You can now use the control center also in portrait mode:

I got a MM7150 Motion Module from MICROCHIP, as a gift from the Digi-Key, because I was a winner of the digi-prize:

That's what I did and my robot project was one of the winners! The gift I received is a MM7150 Motion Module from MICROCHIP. It will give R5 a tilt sensor and hopefully a better directional stability in rough terrain, soon. Would be nice if the magnetometer can be used as compass (all the motors and servos could cause too many interferences).

New interface

I have cleaned the design of my pages, especially that of the control interface:

Now you can see the countdown clock, indicating the time until the next test run starts, in the message window.

Next public test is on Sunday August 14th at 10:00CEST (UTC +2) and at 19:00 UTC+2. Go to the control center to drive R5:

The first sensor data transmitted is the raw value of the Arduino ADC input connected to the battery. The transmitted value turns red if the battery is nearly discharged. There is currently no implementation of an automatic shutdown, but that will follow soon to prevent the batteries from deep discharge.

The NoIR camera is installed and the robot will be live on July 31st from 10:00 to 12:00CEST (UTC +2) and after recharging the batteries from 19:00 to 21:00CEST (UTC +2). Drive it in the control center:

The robot will drive around my home, thus it will become the first outdoor mission and for sure the network won't trouble the mission...

The camera is currently the only sensor of the robot, but that's enough to do science. Just think of the countless studies based on photos from Луноход, Spirit, Opportunity or Curiosity.

Who can take a picture of an "alien life form" (no plants) with the camera eyes of the rover? Don't think that will be an easy job. The rover motors are loud, thus birds will very likely not come close to the vehicle.

Well, I am not living in the jungle (the above picture was taken with the rover camera in a nearby forest), but maybe a cat could come along or watch out for beetles and ants to take an alien shot...

The first public test run takes place on Saturday 25th of June 2016 at 11:00CEST. Its the EUREGIO MAKERSPACE: GRAND OPENING in Lemiers (Netherlands). Meet me and my robot in Lemiers or visit the event through the camera eye of R5: